The free healthcare program in Jakarta may have a thumbs-up from grassroots but medical experts have warned people about the importance of preventive healthcare and to start practicing a healthy life style.

Chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) Zainal Abidin said that preventive health efforts would save the city budget and individuals' spending on healthcare.

'People need to get vegetables and fruit back on their tables because fiber is important to prevent obesity. Reduce sugar and salt. These efforts can prevent degenerative diseases that can be costly,' he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Basic Health Research (Riskedas) data from 2010 shows that the number of overweight people over 18 was at 21.7 percent, a jump from 17.5 percent in 1997.

Zainal said individual prevention efforts might be unique for each person, so patients need to consult their doctors. On the other hand, medical practitioners and the government should raise awareness on healthy lifestyles.

Prevention at the society level, he said, could be done through better sanitation and sewerage systems, regular fogging to prevent dengue fever, improving air quality, encouraging sports through car free days and immunization.

Immunization in Indonesia started as early as the 1950s with measles vaccination. State-owned vaccine producer Bio Farma, which also exports its products to 110 countries, became the country's backbone in vaccine production and research.

However, the variety of vaccines produced by the company is still limited. Free immunizations for children are still restricted to five vaccinations. They are BCG, which protects against tuberculosis, DPT, which protects against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus; hepatitis B; measles; and polio.

'Vaccination is more advanced than medicine. Studies have shown that immunization can significantly reduce health budgets,' vaccinologist Dirga Sakti Rambe told the Post.

The member of the Adult Immunization Task Force at the Indonesian Internists Association (PAPDI) said unlike some European countries and America, Indonesia has not planned a free immunization program for adults.

'The government should strengthen Bio Farma or should provide a budget to procure vaccines. Malaysia and Singapore buy vaccines for their residents because they do not have vaccine producers,' Dirga said.   

In Indonesia, free immunization for adults is only limited to tetanus vaccination for prospective brides and imported meningitis vaccines for participants in the haj pilgrimage.

Other vaccinations cost hundreds of thousands of rupiah as they are still imported products.

PAPDI's recommended vaccinations for adults include Mumps, Measles and Rubella (MMR), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), chickenpox, typhoid, influenza, pneumonia, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningitis.  

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Pediatricians Association (IDAI) has recommended other immunizations for children such as rotavirus vaccine, which can prevent the leading cause of diarrhea.

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